Chemistry in the Scientific Revolution

“科学革命”有很多含义，最常见的是用一种理论来颠覆另一种理论。有关大陆漂移和板块构造理论的“革命”就是这种革命的最新例证。然而，更罕见的是那些从根本上改变了我们对周围世界的看法的全球性科学革命。虽然可能还有更多，但人们很容易想到四个：16世纪和17世纪的科学革命，达尔文革命，爱因斯坦革命和量子理论引发的革命。这些革命不仅代表着理论或一套理论的改变，也代表着我们对自己和我们在宇宙中的位置的看法的根本转变。因此，对这些全球革命的研究对于理解科学和人性本身仍然至关重要。戴维斯博士正在研究第一次科学革命的核心人物之一罗伯特·博伊尔的论文。波义耳为力学哲学的建立做出了持久的贡献，仅次于牛顿。作为一名实验科学家和激进的辩论家，博伊尔试图证明亚里士多德、文艺复兴和笛卡尔自然体系在哲学、神学和科学上的不足。这在很大程度上是由于波义耳对原子论的辩护，牛顿和他的追随者也拒绝了这些其他系统。尽管博伊尔很重要，但他未发表的论文从未被作为一个整体进行分析，因为它们揭示了他的思想发展。戴维斯博士将与伦敦大学的迈克尔·亨特博士合作，对博伊尔未出版和已出版作品之间的关系进行分析研究。我们的长期目标是完成一项工作，这项工作将使我们对这位可以被视为科学革命缩影的人的理解有了全新的了解。

"Scientific revolution" has many meanings, the most common being the overthrow of one theory for another. The "revolution" concerning the theory of continental drift and plate tectonics is a recent example of such a revolution. Much rarer, however, has been those kinds of global scientific revolutions which radically alter our view of the world around us. While there may be more, four readily come to mind: the Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th Centuries, the Darwinian Revolution, the Einsteinian Revolution and the Revolution ensuing from Quantum Theory. These revolutions represent not just a change in theories or sets of theories, but a radical shift of our views of ourselves and our place in the Universe. Studies of these global revolutions consequently remain centrally important for understanding both science and human nature itself. Dr. Davis is examining the papers of one of the central figures in the first scientific revolution, Robert Boyle. Boyle, second only to Newton, made lasting contributions to the establishment of the mechanical philosophy. As an experimental scientist and aggressive polemicist, Boyle sought to demonstrate the philosophical, theological, and scientific deficiencies of the Aristotelian, Renaissance and Cartesian systems of nature. It is in no small part owing to Boyle's defense of atomism that Newton and his followers also rejected these other systems. Despite his importance, Boyle's unpublished papers have never been analyzed as a whole for what they reveal about the development of his thought. Collaborating with Dr. Michael Hunter of the University of London, Dr. Davis will undertake an analytical study of he relationship of Boyle's unpublished and published writings. The long term goal is to complete a work which will shed entirely new light on our understanding of a man whose work can be seen as a microcosm of the scientific revolution.